


By Your Side

by Springmagpies



Series: As We Drabble Along [10]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Friendship, Gen, bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Springmagpies/pseuds/Springmagpies
Summary: For the prompt “Can’t you stay a little longer?” + FitzBobbi Brotp
Relationships: Hint of Fitzsimmons - Relationship, Leo Fitz & Bobbi Morse
Series: As We Drabble Along [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789084
Comments: 14
Kudos: 27





	By Your Side

Fitz hated it when the lab was empty. As much as he told his coworkers the opposite, Fitz hated being alone in general, but especially in the lab. He hated when he became overly aware of the sound the air conditioner made, hated when he remembered how cold the lab could get (he was still working out a way to bring both of these up to Coulson who for some reason enjoyed the base at a cool 20 degrees C. at all times). And he hated when he was alone with his own thoughts. Especially with Simmons missing, his thoughts could get awfully loud. 

_You’ll never find her._

_This is way beyond you._

_How could you have been so stupid._

_If you just hadn’t left the room._

_It’s your fault._

_She’s gone._

“Hey, Fitz.”

Startled, Fitz nearly dropped his tablet as he turned to the doors of the lab. However, he relaxed when he registered that it was Bobbi who had entered. 

“Hey,” Fitz replied, clearing his throat. He rubbed at the back of his neck before dropping his gaze back to his tablet. “I was just working on those specs for Coulson’s hand.” 

Bobbi gave him a closed lip smile, coming to stand just a step to his left. “Fitz,” she said, looking at him with her ear over one shoulder, “you do know I’m a spy right? And that your monolith tab is still open.”

Fitz blushed, quickly closing the tab before leaning his elbows on his messy lab bench. He ducked his head, rubbing his eyes with his fingertips as Bobbi gently placed her hand on his back. He had lost track of what time it was, late enough that all the lab techs had left him alone in the deafeningly quiet room. Late enough that he no longer felt the effects of his tiredness.

“It’s okay,” Bobbi said, her hand moving in small circles between his shoulder blades. “It’s okay.”

He rubbed a hand down his face, straightening up to lean against the bench. “I’ve got to finish Coulson’s hand upgrade by tomorrow afternoon and I’m not even close to where I should be, the inhuman husk we found last week is still refusing to cooperate, and Zephyr One still needs that new transmission line. And I can’t seem to care about any of it.” He banged his fist against the table, immediately regretting it when pain like a thousand needles ran up his arm. 

Bobbi took another step closer before coming to lean against the table as well, their arms touching from the elbow up. For some reason, the gesture gave Fitz the much needed feeling of closeness he had been missing the past few weeks. 

Since Simmons had disappeared, everyone had been extra careful around him. It felt like his brain injury all over again. No one knew what to say, what to do, how to operate when he was near. And if that wasn’t enough, the terrigen outbreak had Mack and Daisy out and about helping inhumans, Coulson was locked up in his office trying to keep SHIELD running, May was MIA, and Hunter was dead set on murdering Ward. So even if they knew what to say, his friends really didn’t have the time to say it. It was only as he felt Bobbi standing next to him that Fitz remembered that in spite of everything, SHIELD was his family. There would always be someone there for him, just as he would be there for them. All he needed to do was ask.

“Hey Bobbi,” he said, finally allowing himself to look up at her. “Can’t you stay a little longer. I could really use your expertise on Coulson’s upgrades.”

Bobbi smiled and nodded. “Of course, Fitz. I was hoping you would ask.”

“And if you want,” he said as Bobbi moved to grab her lab coat, “you can complain to me about rehab. I remember how frustrating it was when I was going through it and having someone to talk to about it helped a lot.”

She paused with her hand on the sleeve of her coat, an emotion Fitz couldn’t place filling up her eyes. “That’d be great, Fitz.”

They worked side by side until their eyelids began to droop and the information on the monitors went fuzzy. But the entire time they worked, Fitz hardly noticed the sound of the air conditioner.


End file.
